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I am in NJ. Most houses around here have a true basement with 7 foot or higher ceilings. Sometimes the listing will even point out a finished basement, yet you still don’t see a picture. I would like to see a picture of the basement whether it is finished or not. Even if the basement is unfinished or finished and not in good condition, people will understand as it’s just a basement.
Is there a reason why this is the case? We are generally talking about homes that are under 2000 sq feet, not like these are huge houses and the additional space or potential space to finish is a big deal.
There might be a restriction on the amount of pictures the MLS allows, so they use all the allowable spots for good pictures. We went from allowing 10 to 12 to 25, and now it's 40.
I'm in the Boston area and 99% of houses around here have a basement.
If the basement is finished, I'll see photos of it in the listing 90% of the time. If the basement is unfinished except for the occasional photo of the heating system or maybe the laundry machines (if they're down there) I don't think I've ever seen anyone put in a photo of an unfinished basement.
Without a doubt, this is the first time I've ever heard anyone say they'd like to see a photo of an unfinished basement in the listing. While basements can certainly vary in construction (cinder block, fieldstone, poured cement, etc.) and also pour depth aside from that if you've seen one unfinished basement you've pretty much seen them all. I know at least in my MLS there are fields you can fill in to answer some of these questions up front.
I would guess aside from the uniformity of unfinished basements, the aesthetics are another reason why you don't typically see photo of them in a listing. It's a bunch of pipes, concrete, and insulation along with a whole slew of people's junk that they're storing down there. It's just not pretty. Plus, basements are typically very dark so not great for photographing.
No matter what the basement, it usually doesn't photograph as well as the upper floors. They're trying to get you to come to see it and find all that stuff out
Finished walkout basements with full-size windows would be different
Around here, where almost every house has a basement, the only time you’d see a photo of an unfinished basement is if it’s immaculate with a freshly painted floor.
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